IT'S A CRIME! (OR A MYSTERY...)

More books to come...

Technology is a wonderful thing, but it can also be limiting.  Unfortunately, the book reviews I typed up over the Christmas period (on a lap top) will need to be re-typed.  My PC does not like the disc I used to try and transfer them and neither is it successful in formatting any of the discs I have, to try and start again.  Thus I will be re-typing these, when I can, over the next couple of weeks.

In Cold Daylight - Pauline Rowson

In Cold Daylight by Pauline Rowson is currently in the top ten for World Book Day's "Books to Talk About", as the voting continues to find the book to talk about 2008.

In a nutshell: Marine artist Adam Greene's fire fighter friend Jack Bartholomew has just died following an explosion as he entered a fire in a derelict building.  But was it an accident or was it arson?  A note that Jack sent Adam before he died includes a puzzle and Adam sets off to find out the truth that Jack had been so near to discovering for himself.  At the same time, Adam's marriage is hitting the rocks and experiences in his past are about to enter his present...

This is a page turning easy read that keeps you guessing to the end.  There are plenty of characters for whom life is not what it seems on the face of it; indeed, it is only Adam's cat that encourages trust.  Lies and deceit are present in abundance.  In Cold Daylight manages to mix the worlds of fire fighting, chemistry and biotechnology, politics and the security services making a satisfying mystery tale.

It's good, in more ways than one that Rowson finds herself on the shortlist with this novel.  World Book Day also sees the publishing of Quick Reads "written for adults who find books difficult or unengaging, or for avid readers, simply wanting a short, fast read".  Rowson's style certainly lends itself to this objective and those who feel able to try a full length novel will find In Cold Daylight right up their street.  Those who love a mystery will love it too.

More on Murder Most Famous

From the home page of literary agent, Gregory & Co's site: fellow crime author Mike Ripley and publisher Maria Rejt (Pan Macmillan) are to join Minette Walters as judges.

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As comments are moderated here, expect a delay in the appearance of any further, until the weekend.  The PC and I are parting company for the rest of the week.  Have a good one!

Light Reading - Aliya Whiteley

  Aliya Whiteley's second novel with the Macmillan New Writing imprint Light Reading is, well, different.  Whiteley treats us to the new millennium's British "Thelma and Louise"; in this case Pru and Lena who are both wives of RAF officers and decide one day to take off for escape and some adventure.  This is not the novel equivalent of a road movie, more a walk along the prom in the out of season, uninviting and sinister-feeling seaside resort of Allcombe.  Where Allcombe harbours a lot of secrets, so do our duo Pru and Lena...

Whatever happened to Philip Jolowicz? Questions on the legal/financial thrillers of previous years...

In 2002, Walls of Silence was published.  Its author, Philip Jolowicz was hailed as a new Grisham, another king of the legal thriller.  Jolowicz had worked as a lawyer in the City, before becoming a corporate financier and investment banker, so he knew his stuff.

I remember Walls of Silence as a crackingly paced read, worthy of the description "thriller".  Starting out with a New York setting, the novel later moved to India and each setting felt real and affectionately recorded.  But what has come since?

Sadly, Amazon lists a novel "False Positive" as a hardback in 2004 and 2005, with a paperback in 2005 also.  All listings are noted as "currently unavailable" and there are no online reviews or "used and new copies" on offer in Amazon's marketplace.  Neither does AddALL identify any copies in the used market.

By the time of publication of "False Positive" was there too much of the finance side of life thrown in with the legal, just as the UK was tiring of the financial based novel?  It appears that only Michael Ridpath has survived that sub-genre crunch in the UK.  But he is no longer on my "must read the next" list.  Was that because I left the City in 1999, finally disenchanted by that pattern of working life and possibly because I did not seek to read it in fiction too?   Or was it because I'd discovered other UK writers to capture my imagination in other sub-genres?

Where are they now? Stephen L. Carter author of "The Emperor of Ocean Park"

Continuing with that old series of "Where are they now?" started last year...

When this novel, The Emperor of Ocean Park came out in 2002 it was the talk in many towns across the country.  Carter even dropped into the Hay Festival. Someone I knew then, an aspiring crime fiction writer now published, thought the novel was superb and urged everyone to read it.

I had already bought a copy; but even now, I am ashamed to say, it remains unread.  Sorting through my books in my parents' house the other week, I stumbled across it.  The Emperor of Ocean Park made it with ease into my "save" selection.  It had plenty of superb reviews at the time and a trip across the pond to the Hay Festival was a kind of endorsement, the icing on the cake.  The Yale law professor's novel had attracted a seven figure sum in an auction, so it had to be good, didn't it?  And thus, today, I am wondering what became of Stephen L. Carter's writing career in fiction?

Neil Pearson and Obelisk Press

Following last year's killer event at the Hay Festival, I ordered Obelisk (from Amazon) but it arrived damaged, due to inadequate packaging, before Christmas, (returned without trust that a replacement might make it whole and undamaged, and seeking a refund, which was delivered).  Thus, I finally managed to venture out on Monday, in these cold conditions, to seek a perfect copy.  I went to London.  Hatchard's, in a telephone call before Christmas, had 47 copies; but by the time I walked through their doors, all had been returned.

Luckily, further up on Piccadilly, Waterstone's had a decent copy.  So I arrived home fixed.

And now, after the next and most recent crime novel, I will devour "Obelisk".

Last year in Hay, Rick Gekoski's reading of a small piece of Pearson's book was so enlightening and funny that I simply had to read the book.

Following my recent crimefic read, and others, if I get the media sorted, I'll let you know all about Obelisk.   

That trip to London also allowed me to discover that my aged (vintage framed) specs are repairable.  Cutler and Gross, you continue to be beautiful in my eyes, and in front of them ...

But now I'm home and reading.  Bliss!

In the news this past week, including World Book Day announcement today

The Book To Talk About (World Book Day 2008) ...

Today, as part of the proceedings leading up to World Book Day (March 6th, 2008), the committee announced the shortlist of the ten books deemed to be the major competitors for the title of "the book to talk about".   You can find them here, along with the facility to register your own vote.

Guardian writers Richard Lea (who wrote the post on the Guardian's book blog) and Sam Jordison (who left a comment) are a bit flummoxed as to what it all means:

• Lea: 'It looks like a clear case of "ask a funny question, get a funny answer". What, after all, is a "book to talk about"? Is it really a book with "serious issues, character-led drama and often a splash of humour" as the committee suggests? Don't we just want to talk about good books? Whatever they might be ...'

• Jordison: 'I don't quite get it either, and am mildly miffed that the book I voted for (The Red Men) didn't get through to the last ten...  I also have a slight suspicion that the authors most likely to get through in an internet poll like this are the ones most able to cajole their friends into voting for them.  Then again, it's interesting/ gratifying to see a list so well represented by small presses and free of the usual suspects...  Plus, I've been meaning to read Lint for a while, and I guess this is another good spur/reminder...  So, er, in a roundabout way, I suppose I'm saying that the shortlist might well be a Good Thing.'

Lea also notes that the longlist was 'assembled by "industry experts"; clearly wondering what that means in reality and fact (World Book Day does not seem to be transparent in this).

But, well hell, let's have some fun with what appears to be, on the face of it, a Brownies' event bran tub: anything gets chucked in and anything can come out.  Yes, it's an odd list, but so be it.  I'd like to think that those who have voted thus far, and left comments are mainly readers, so it makes it a popular readers' vote.  That shortlist of ten might even be the top ten for readers' groups around the UK in finding the best they can imagine to "talk about" at their meetings.

Looking at that top ten shortlist, which now requires another round of reader voting, I am familiar with two names.  More on one of these later, as the crime genre is involved.  (Well, this is a crime fiction site, in the main.)  But, "Death of a Murderer" by Rupert Thomson also caught my eye.  Was it crime fiction?   When I read the page I was reminded of an interview I heard last year on the now sadly passed-into-the-digital-ether Oneword Radio DAB station, with the author and "Between The Lines" presenter Paul Blezard.  At the time, my interest was tempted; but this remains for another day or so's reading.  Comments on World Book Day are mixed, but I still have some fascination in seeking out this book which does not mention the name of Myra Hindley, but is clearly based on her, as the author openly admitted in that interview.  This was a case that shocked a nation beyond belief.  I believe that every mother of a young child at that time, however many miles away, was led to be over-protective to a degree.  However, the reaction of innocents can never detract from the immense and immeasurable loss that has no empathetic description for those who suffered at the hands of Brady and Hindley.  Approx. twenty years later, I thought about reading the transcript of the case in the Law Library when at university.  I never had the guts to do it.

Now onto the crime genre feature in this feast from World Book Day ...

Sacrifice - S. J. Bolton

Sacrifice by S. J. Bolton (Sharon) is a début novel from Bantam Press to be published in early February 2008 in the UK.

In a nutshell: obstetrician/gynaecologist Tora Hamilton moves to the Shetland Isles, the original home of her hubbie, where both pursue new developments in their respective careers.  One day, Tora, a keen horse lover and rider, has a dead horse on her hands and decides to bury it herself, against legalities.  As she digs deeper, she comes across a corpse buried in her land.  The corpse proves to be the body of a woman who had recently given birth.  She was brutally murdered with her heart removed.  If that wasn't bad enough, at the post mortem, rune marks are found etched into the skin of her back, marks that Tora can see on the wall in her own cellar...

The care of and risks to those with learning disabilities

CARE Blackerton House is registered to provide care to people under 65 years of age with learning disabilities.  It is run by the charity CARE which states on its home page:

"Our aim is to assist men and women with learning disabilities to live a full and purposeful life at the heart of society and to help them to gain independence through the encouragement of further training in everyday and vocational skills."

Norm at Crime Scraps has recently been writing about the risks to such people in the community and CARE's proposal to sell the site and move its residents to another location, which he argues is of less quality with the disruption of the move likely to cause immense stress to the residents.  He has now started an online petition and in his post to announce this, he also lists his previous posts which cover his thoughts on the proposal and its background.  You can find it here along with a link to the petition.  I think Norm makes a strong case.

Alas, whatever the government tries to tell us, we live in a period where certain crimes are mounting and it is easy to prey on the vulnerable.  Indeed, Disability Now is maintaining a "hate crime dossier" to support its arguments for its hate crime campaign.

If you feel you already know enough to add weight to the petition, you can go directly here.  But please read Norm's posts and if you have a blog and feel empathy, please link as I have done.